Tourism is arguably one of the most promising options for economic prosperity in rural areas. Effective strategies aiming at tourism development, however, should be based on a thorough analysis of residents' preferences as well as visitors' expectations and satisfaction. Hence, the aim of this paper is to investigate residents' views on tourism development and the contribution of various productive sectors to local development as well as to examine event visitors’ views and satisfaction level in a rural area in Greece. Results based on quantitative data collected via questionnaires showed that the residents perceived that nature-based types of tourism should be developed and preferred Greek rather than foreign investors to be involved in tourism development. Moreover, the majorities of visitors attending events regarded the study area as a value-for-money destination and experienced positive emotions during their stay. In addition, half of visitors attending a Christmas event expressed their willingness to attend the event again in the future whereas most film festival visitors were significantly less willing to do so. Moreover, the visitors of all events were highly satisfied with the natural environment in the destination. Finally, it may be concluded that events are able to establish areas as value-for-money destinations and to contribute to local development. The results presented in this paper may be particularly useful to local authorities and stakeholders involved in the development of tourism in rural areas both in Greece and elsewhere.

中文翻译：

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活动在当地发展中的作用：居民观点和游客满意度分析

旅游业可以说是农村地区经济繁荣最有前途的选择之一。然而，针对旅游业发展的有效策略应基于对居民偏好以及游客期望和满意度的彻底分析。因此，本文的目的是调查希腊农村地区居民对旅游业发展的看法以及各个生产部门对当地发展的贡献，并调查活动游客的看法和满意度。通过问卷调查收集的定量数据得出的结果表明，居民认为应该发展以自然为基础的旅游类型，并且更喜欢希腊投资者而不是外国投资者参与旅游业的开发。此外，大多数参加活动的游客都认为研究区是一个物有所值的目的地，并在逗留期间体验到积极的情绪。此外，参加圣诞节活动的参观者中有一半表示愿意将来再次参加该活动，而大多数电影节参观者的意愿明显较低。此外，所有活动的游客对目的地的自然环境都非常满意。最后，可以得出这样的结论：活动能够将地区打造为物有所值的目的地，并为当地发展做出贡献。本文提出的结果可能对希腊和其他地方参与农村地区旅游业发展的地方当局和利益相关者特别有用。